Is this your excuse that keeps you from realizing your dreams?

Last week I attended a seminar in Holland. Met great people. Learned interesting stuff. And it’s always great to be in Holland. I like the Dutch.

Anyway, I met some people I hadn’t seen for a while. And the strange thing is two of them said something about being successful.

The first one said: “Wow, admire your energy, creativity and initiatives. I love to see how successful you are!” – Well, I must say I blushed (understatement) and responded with a shy “thanks, how nice of you to say this.”

The other one said: “My God, you are everywhere, on social media, networking events, seminars… Now that is Personal Branding all right! How did you get to be such an overnight success?!” – “Hum, is this a compliment?”, I was wondering. “An overnight success?!?! I don’t think I built my Personal Brand in 1 night. Does it even exist, an overnight success?” – Anyway, I again thanked the person. I am sure she meant well.

Anyway, both events made me think about the definition of success. And the connotation of the word. Is it something positive? Or has it become a dirty word.

We, Belgians, prefer “to act normal”, “not to do crazy things”, “not to stand out from the crowd because the bigger you are, the harder you fall”, “not to dream too big, be realistic”…

How do you feel about this? Do you recognize this?

So once you start talking about Personal Branding, you get reactions like “that’s for braggers”, “that’s salezy”, “that’s not about being authentic”, “that’s for introverts”…

Well, it’s not. And I have proof for that. But that’s not what I want to talk about in this blog post.

I want to talk about success.

What do you think? Is success a good thing or just a dirty word?

I looked it up in the dictionary (Marriam-Webster) and this is what it says:

the fact of getting or achieving wealth, respect, or fame

the correct or desired result of an attempt

someone or something that is successful : a person or thing that succeeds

Huh. I don’t know about you, but I’m not so fond of these definitions :-/

So I did some extra research and here is what I found and liked – 10 quotes and ideas about success…

So forget about an overnight success. I don’t believe it exists. And I know for sure I am not an overnight success. I work hard, I fail, and I succeed, and I work hard and fail…. You get the picture 🙂 How about you? Are you an overnight success?

2. “Begin with the end in mind” – one of the habits of highly effective people, says Stephen Covey.

In other words, what do you want to be said about you at your funeral? That’s your definition of success.

3. “Success means doing the best we can with what we have. Success is the doing, not the getting; in the trying, not the triumph. Success is a personal standard, reaching for the highest that is in us, becoming all that we can be.” – Zig Ziglar

I love this one. I like Zig Ziglar too. What a pitty he passed away. Anyway, to me this quote also means: “go the extra mile” and that is (in my humble opinion) one of the foundations of self-leadership. Great leaders go the extra mile. Successful entrepreneurs go the extra mile. I’m sure of it. Are you a successful entrepreneur? Do you go the extra mile for your clients?

4. “Don’t wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.” – Mark Victor Hansen

Are you ready to grow your business? Are you ready to be visible? Or are you just a scary person who’s afraid to jump? I was scared too, I was afraid to become visible, to build my business… And yet I jumped, and now they claim I’m successful 🙂 Well, so can you!

Now that is some good advice. Before making an important decision like pursuing a freelance career, growing your business to the next level by hiring somebody etc… Ask yourself these questions!! I did.

6. “There is no point at which you can say, “Well, I’m successful now. I might as well take a nap.”- Carrie Fisher

It’s a mistake I made too. I used to think that success was some kind of end goal. “I will be successful if I have a house on the beach, or a Audi TT convertible, or a team of 10 people working for me”… or or or…. But that is not the definition of success. Success is a journey, not a destination. We can’t really experience the past or the future (cfr Wayne Dyer, who also passed away recently, sad), so the only time we can really experience success is NOW.

7. “Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome.”- Samuel Johnson

Again, let’s focus on NOW and let’s just do it. I come across so many people who tell me: “yes, I’ll be an entrepreneur when xyz…” or “I’ll build my Personal Brand when I have finished my current assignment”… but it might be too late by then. There will never be a perfect moment. There will always be an obstacle. What’s your excuse? Successful people don’t let that deter them.

Success starts within! There’s people who blame the economy, there’s people who blame the competition, there’s people who blame their spouse, there’s even people who blame the new potatoes J (inside joke, right daddy? #bunnenshumor J). I suggest you read Napoleon Hill, Wayne Dyer, Jan Bommerez and so many others if you are not sure what it means or how you can achieve this. Good reading. I promise you!!

9. “Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, ‘What’s in it for me?’” – Brian Tracy

If you are a reader of my blogs, you will have noticed that this is something I’m telling over and over again. I believe that givers are successful people. In Personal Branding, Marketing, Networking … it’s all about giving. Not about taking. The givers will eventually receive, you know.

10. “Success is not an accident, it’s the result of your attitude and your attitude is your choice” – anonymous

It’s easy to blame, it’s easy to be jealous, it’s easy to stay in your comfort zone…. But if you want to be a successful entrepreneur you need to enlarge your circle of influence (cfr. Stephen Covey again – you really should read the book “The seven habits of highly effective people” if you haven’t already.) But in the end you were born alone and you will die alone. And in the meanwhile, each of us has the opportunity to create a better life, to be successful (whatever that may be). However, we have to make the decision to do this. It’s your choice.

So what about you?

Ready to be successful?

Are you already successful?

Please, share your thoughts, ideas…. THANKS

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2 thoughts on “You don’t deserve to be successful”

I like the 10 views on success. It shows quiet some different angles on success and they are all true. So putting them together gives a nice definition of success. Ans when you put them all together you certainly understand directly the first one of your list.
(Like your blog)